Vania



(No Model.)

V. o. STROBEL', H. A. LEWIS an L. G. LAURBAU. GOIN GONTROLLBD MEGHANISM.

No. 462,284. Patented Nov. 3, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR O. STROBEL AND HARRY A. LEWIS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA, AND LOUIS G. LAUREAU, OF NEY YORK, N. Y.

COIN-CONTROLLED MECHANISIVI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,284, dated November 3, 1891.

Application filed February 24, 1891. Serial No. 382,623. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, VICTOR O. STROBEL and HARRY A. LEWIS, of the city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,

and LOUIS G. LAUREAU, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, all citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Coin- Oontrolled Machines, of which the following is a specification. The principal objects of our present invention are, rst, to provide a simple, durable, and attractive coin-controlled machine hav- 'ing a series of rotatable wheels provided on the peripheries with designs or numbers visible through an opening in the case or housing of the machine and adapted to be rotated by means of a handle after a coin has been deposited in a slot, so as to afford pleasure and amusement to the depositor thereof, who can guess the designs, numbers, or characters which will be opposite the opening after the wheels have been rotated and have come to rest; second, to provide compact and inexpensive mechanism for imparting to a series of character-wheels a rotating movement by means of a hand-knob after a coin has been deposited in a slot, and, third, to provide efficient means for turning each of the wheels of the series of character-wheels slightly in one direction or the other as it ceases to rotate, so that the numbers or characters upon the peripheries of the wheels will come opposite, or nearly so, to an opening 1n the case or housing of the machine. I

Our present invention consists of a coincontrolled machine having a fixed shaft provided with arrns having spring-pawls, a series of character-wheels free to rotate ou said shaft and provided with ratchet-wheels meshing with said pawls, fingers attached to a rotatable shaft and adapted to contact with and rotate said wheels, and coin-controlled devices for permitting of the actuation of said fingerfshaft.

Our invention further consists of a coincontrolled machine having a fixed shaft, a series of character-wheels free to rotate on said shaft, devices for controlling the position of said wheels with respect to an opening 1n the housing of the machine, a rotatable shaft provided with fingers adapted to contact with and rotate said wheels, an arm attached to said rotatable shaft and provided with a spring-detent, a ratchet-wheel for engaging said spring-detent, a pinion attached to said ratchet-wheel, and coin-controlled mechanism for actuating said pinion.

Our invention further consists of a coincontrollcd machine having a series of character-wheels, a pinion and suitable mechanism for actuating said wheels, a spring-actuated rack meshing with said pinion andprovided with a slot for receiving a coin, a sliding bar having a hand-knob and provided with a slot for receiving` a coin, the construction being such that the coin is locked between said slots and serves to connect said rack and sliding bar; and our invention further consists in the improvements in coincontrolled machines hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The nature and objects of our present invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connec tion with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a coin-controlled machine embodying features of our invention and showing a series of rotatable wheels loosely mounted on aiixed shaft provided with suitable devicesfor controlling the positions in which said wheels come to rest, and also showing a rotatable shaft provided with fingers for contacting with and actuating said wheels, and illustrating coin-controlled mechanism for rotating said finger-shaft. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line o: of Fig. 1, showing a ratchet-wheel for engaging a pawl attached to the iingershaft and provided with a pinion, also showing a rack meshing with the pinion and provided with a slot for coins, and a sliding bar having a hand-knob and provided with a slot for coins, and illustrating the manner in which a coin is locked between said slots in order to connect said rack and sliding bar; and Fig. 3 is a section on the line y yof Fig. 2,showing a top orplan viewof the rack and sliding bar.

In the drawings, a is a case or housing, of

any preferred shape and construction, comprising a base ct', sides a2, ends a3, and a curved top CL4. a5 is an opening protected by a glass cover and formed in the top of* of the case ct, for a purpose to be hereinafter fully described.

Z) is a fixed shaft rigidly supported in lugs b', attached to the ends a3 of the case ct.

b2 are arms keyed or otherwise attached to the shaft b and provided with spring-actuated pawls b3.'

C are Wheels having numbers, designs, or characters disposed on their peripheries, and the said wheels are mounted on the xed shaft b so as to freely rotate thereon.

c are milled peri pheral. edges formed upon the wheels C for a purpose hereinafter fully described.

c2 are ratchet-wheels attached to or formed integral with the character-Wheels O. These ratchet-wheels o2 of course are free to rotate on the fixed shaft t) and engage with the spring-pawls b3. The teeth of the ratchet- Wheels c2 and the extremities of the pawls h3 preferably have V-shaped edges, so that when the Wheels C are being rotated the pawls b3 slide freely over the teeth of the ratchet- Wheels C2, and when these WheelsCare about to be brought to rest byfriction the V-shaped extremities'of the pavvls 793 are forced between two ofthe ratchet-teeth and cause the Wheels C to be turned either in one direction or the other and brought to rest With the numbers or characters opposite the opening a5, or nearly so, it being of course understood that there are as many teeth upon leach ratchet- Wheel o2 as there are numbers or characters on the peripheries of each of the Wheels C.

cl is a rotatable shaft supported in bearings d, attached to the ends ot' the case at or supported in any other preferred manner.

d2 is an arm keyed or otherwise attached to the shaft d and provided with a spring-detent d3, for a purpose to be hereinafter fully described.

dfl are spring-fingers keyed or otherwiseattached to the rotatable shaft d and adapted to contact, respectively, with the milled peripheral edges o of the Wheels C When the shaft CZ is rotated and in order to impart rotary motion to the Wheels C. Excellent results have been attained in practice by making the Working extremities of the fingers (Z4 of rubber or analogous material, and hence preferenceis given to the employment of such type of spring-fingers. v, eis a ratchet-Wheel formed integral with the pinion ef and mounted loosely, so that the pinion e and ratchet-Wheel e are connected together and may be revolved freely on said shaft. The ratchet-Wheel eis provided With saw-teeth adapted to slide freely past the detent cl3 when the pinion e is rotated toward the right in Fig. 2, and to engage the detent d3 and rotate the shaft CZ when the pinion e is rotated toward the left in Fig. 2.

f is a rack-guide attached at the respective tion.

extremities thereof to the sides of the case a' and provided With Waysf.

g is a rack working in the Waysf and adapted to mesh with the pinion e, so as to rotate the latter when the rack is shifted.

h is a sliding bar provided with a handknob h and supporting-guide h2 and adapted to overlap the rack g.

t is a slot formed in the sliding bar h and located in the portion thereof Which overlaps the extremity of the rack g.

t" is a slot formed in the rack g and located beneath the slot 1l, but out of line therewith, so as to lock a coin Z, of apredetermined diameter, in the slots t' and t', in order to connect the rack g and slidingbar h together.

a6 is a coin slot or receptacle formed in the casing a and adapted for the reception of coins of a predetermined diameter.

'i2 is a chute communicating with a slot a and adapted to conduct the coins to and discharge them into the slot i in the sliding bar 7L. It may be remarked that if the coins are of less than a predetermined diameter they will pass through the slots t' and t" and through an opening t3, cut in the rack-guide, and therefore will not serve to connect-the sliding bar h and rack g together, so that the former may be shifted Without affecting the operation of the machine; but if the coin is of the predetermined diameter it will be locked in the slots i and t" and will serve to connect the rack g and sliding bar h together, so that when the sliding bar h is drawn or pulled by means of the hand-knob 7L. or in any other yconvenient manner toward the left in Fig. 2

the rack g is also shifted in the same direc- This motion of the rack g causes the pinion e to be rotated toward the right in Fig. 1, so that the detent cl3 slides .over the IOO teeth of the ratchet-Wheel e Without impartvextremity thereof fitted into and passed through a recess formed in the sliding bar 7L, so as to contact with the end of the rack g, Fig. 2. This spring' s is of course compressed by the operation o pulling the knob h outward-t'. e., toward the left in Fig. 2. Vhen the knob h is released after having been pulled to its extreme position, the spring s serves, first, to shift the sliding bar 7L slightly toward the right, whereupon the Aslots t' and t" are brought into line with each other, thus unlocking the coin and permitting it to fall through a slot 724, formed in the rack-guide, into thc bottom of the housing a, and, second, to shift the sliding bar h and rack g toward the right in Fig. 2. This movement of the rack g toward the right causes the pinion e to be rotated toward the left During this rotation of the pinionve the detentd3 engages one of the teeth of the ratchet-Wheel e, so that the shaft d is rotated with a positive motion. The rotation of the shaft d causes the springfingers d4 to contact with the milled edge c of the peripheries of the Wheels C and to rotate the latter in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The Wheels C will continue to rotate until their motion is retarded by the friction of the pawls b3 sliding over the teeth of the ratchetwheels c2, and as the wheels C gradually come to rest the pawls b3 are forced between the ratchet-teeth and cause the respective wheels C to be turned either in one direction or the other, so that they finally come to rest with the numbers or characters opposite, or nearly so, to the opening a5, as has been above explained.

In use a coin of apredetermined diameterfor example, a nickel-is deposited in the slot a6 and is conducted through the chute t2 and discharged into the slot t', whereupon it becomes locked in the slots i and t" and serves to connect the rack g and sliding bar 7L. The participants in the amusement may then guess the characters, designs, or numbers that will be visible through the opening a5 after the wheels C have been rotated and have come again to a position of rest, in the manner hereinabove explained.

It may be remarked that coins may be removed from the'casing a by means of a'door or in any other preferred manner.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which our invention appertains that modilications may be made in details without departing from the spirit thereof, and hence we do not limit ourselves to the exact arrangement hereinabove explained; but,

Having thus described the nature and objects of our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a coinscontrolled machine, the combination of a fixed shaft provided with rigid arms having pawls and a series of characterwheels free to rotate on said shaft and provided with ratchet-wheels meshing` with said pawls for controlling the normal position of the wheels, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. Acoin-controlled machine havingaixed shaft provided with arms having spring-pa\.vls, a series of character-wheels free to rotate on said shaft and provided with ratchet-wheels meshing with said pawls, a rotatable shaft, fingers attached to said rotatable shaft and adapted to contact with and rotate said wheels, and coin-controlled devices for permitting of the actuation of said finger-shaft, substantially as and for thepu-rposes set forth.

In a coin-controlled machine, the combination of a fixed shaft, a series of characterwheels free to rotate on said shaft, a rotatable shaft, and lingers attached to said rotatable shaft and adapted to contact with and rotate said wheels, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4:. A coin-controlled machine having a fixed shaft, a series of character-wheels free to rotate on said shaft, devices for controlling the position' of said wheels with respect to an opening in t-he housing of the machine, a rotatable shaft provided with fingers adapted to contact with and rotate said wheels, and mechanism for permitting of the actuation of said rotatable shaft, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. A coin-controlled machine having a fixed shaft, a series of character-wheels free to rotate thereon, devices for controlling the normal position ot' said wheels, a rotatable shaft provided with ingers adapted to contact with and rotate said wheels, an arm attached to said rotatable vshaft and provided with a springdetent, a ratchet-wheel for engaging said spring-detent, a pinion attached to said ratchet-wheel, and coin-controlled mechanism for actuating said pinion, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

G. In a coin-controlled machine, the combination ot' a rack provided with a slot for receiving a coin, a sliding bar overlapping said rack and provided with a slot, and a spring for shifting said rack and sliding bar and for bringing said slots into line with each other, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. A coin controlled machine having a series of character-wheels, a pinion and suitable mechanism for actuating said wheels, a spring-actuated rack meshing with said pinion and provided with a slot for receiving a coin, a hand-knob, a sliding bar provided with a slot for receiving coins, the construc tion being such that the coin is locked between said slots and serves to connect said rack and sliding bar, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

S. A coin controlled machine having a series of character-wheels, a pinion and suit! able mechanism for contacting with the peripheries of and rotating said wheels, a springactuated rack meshing with said pinion and provided with a slot for receiving a coin,and a sliding bar having a hand-knob connected therewith and provided with a slot for receiving a coin, the construction being such that the coin is locked between said slots and serves to connect said rack and hand-knob, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our signatures in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VICTOR O. STROBEL. HARRY A. LEVIS. LOUIS G. LAUREAU.

Witnesses:

THOMAS M. SMITH,

HERMANN HORMANN. XVitnesses as to Louis G. Laureau:

WALLACE MACFARLANE,

WILLIAM L. BREwsTER.

IOO 

